Depression Type and Depression Severity in Relation to Risk of Violent Suicide Attempt.

Low levels of CSF 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid & a blunted TSH response to thyrotropin-releasing hormone are present in depressed patients, particularly violent-suicide attempters. There are at least 2 conceivable explanations for these findings: the biological abnormalities relate to (1) disturbed aggression regulations or to (2) disturbed mood regulation (either type or severity). This study demonstrated that violent suicide attempts relate to a particular depressive syndrome. 25 ref.